There very well could have been a full-fledged R.E.M. reunion in Portland, Ore., on Saturday night as all four members of the defunct college-rock superstars performed after Peter Buck’s wedding. But, by all appearances, they managed to avoid such headlines, just barely, by not actually sharing the stage together.

Robyn Hitchcock will hit the road in the U.S. later this spring to support his just-released ‘Love From London’ album, playing a series of dates on the two coasts with his latter-period backup band The Venus 3 and R.E.M.’s Peter Buck serving as opening act.

The first weekend of Peter Buck’s three-weekend Todos Santos Music Festival in Baja California, Mexico, wrapped up Saturday night with what was essentially a reunion of latter-day R.E.M. minus Michael Stipe as bassist Mike Mills joined Buck and his steadfast R.E.M. sidemen Scott McCaughey and Bill Rieflin onstage.

Peter Buck finally announced his debut solo album today, posting a note on R.E.M.’s website that reveals the album — we’re still not sure what it’s called; he doesn’t mention its title — will be released this Friday in a super-limited, 2,000-copy vinyl-only run by Portland, Ore.-based Mississippi Records.

Last night in Seattle, former R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck played his first-ever solo show — after conducting, as he noted from the stage, his first-ever solo soundcheck — he debuted his new backing band Richard M. Nixon as the opening act for the first of two Young Fresh Fellows album-release shows at The Sunset.

For months, former R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck has been silent about his upcoming solo debut, but he’s finally opening up about the project, confirming it’s planned as a vinyl-only release and that he’ll sing eight of the album’s 12 tracks, with longtime sideman Scott McCaughey and Corin Tucker picking up the rest.

Scott McCaughey tells the Seattle Weekly that former R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck’s self-titled album — with guest turns by Mike Mills and Sleater-Kinney’s Corin Tucker — could be out as early as next month, when Buck debuts his new band, dubbed Richard M. Nixon, at a pair of Seattle shows with Young Fresh Fellows.

Attention tapeheads: The ever-iconoclastic Robyn Hitchcock is releasing an ultra-limited run of his new album ‘Propellor Time’ — on which he’s backed by members of R.E.M. and The Smiths — on ‘hand-assembled’ cassette.

This week’s new releases include new albums from David Byrne & Fatboy Slim (‘Here Lies Love,’ about Imelda Marcos) and Robyn Hitchcock (‘Propellor Time’), plus expanded reissues from David Bowie, The Colourfield and Squeeze.